Judicial Watchhttp://www.judicialwatch.org
Because no one is above the law!Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:31:46 +0000en-UShourly1Mexican Cartels Smuggle Terrorists into U.S. Through Rural Texas Border Regionhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/mexican-cartels-smuggle-terrorists-into-u-s-through-rural-texas-border-region/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/mexican-cartels-smuggle-terrorists-into-u-s-through-rural-texas-border-region/#commentsWed, 29 Jul 2015 20:00:24 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76523Mexican drug cartels are smuggling foreigners from countries with terrorist links into a small Texas rural town near El Paso and they’re using remote farm roads—rather than interstates—to elude the Border Patrol and other law enforcement barriers, according to Judicial Watch sources on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border. The foreigners are classified as Special

]]>Mexican drug cartels are smuggling foreigners from countries with terrorist links into a small Texas rural town near El Paso and they’re using remote farm roads—rather than interstates—to elude the Border Patrol and other law enforcement barriers, according to Judicial Watch sources on both sides of the Mexico-U.S. border.

The foreigners are classified as Special Interest Aliens (SIA) and they are being transported to stash areas in Acala, a rural crossroads located around 54 miles from El Paso on a state road – Highway 20. Once in the U.S., the SIAs wait for pick-up in the area’s sand hills just across Highway 20. Terrorists have entered the U.S. through Mexico for years and in fact, an internal Texas Department of Public Safety report leaked by the media months ago documents that several members of known Islamist terrorist organizations have been apprehended crossing the southern border in recent years.

Now they’re also being smuggled in through border region airfields, according to JW’s civilian, law enforcement and intelligence sources. The renowned Vicente Carrillo Fuentes cartel is using the Horizon Airport (formerly “West Texas Airport”) in El Paso’s lower valley to smuggle SIAs into the U.S. from Mexico, JW’s inside sources say. The facility is convenient because it’s located only 11 miles from El Paso’s central business district yet it’s small enough that security is virtually nonexistent.

Additionally, the region surrounding El Paso has seen a substantial increase in heroin trafficking, JW’s inside sources reveal. Two crime families associated with the Vincente Carrillo Fuentes cartel are smuggling and trafficking in the vicinity of Tornillo, Fabens and Ft. Hancock. JW’s law enforcement sources say the cartels are exploiting Border Patrol and Texas Department of Public Safety policies and directives constraining and limiting traffic stops and interdiction operations.

This alarming information is part of an ongoing Judicial Watch investigation into crime, terrorism and corruption in the southern border region. Last year JW exposed a sophisticated narco-terror ring with roots in El Paso and strong ties to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Earlier this year JW reported that ISIS is operating in a Mexican border town just eight miles from El Paso, the result of Islamic terrorists joining forces with drug cartels and human smugglers knowns as “coyotes.” JW’s law enforcement sources confirmed that the Mexican smugglers are moving ISIS operatives through the desert and across the porous southern border. Just a few months ago JW reported that a record-breaking,154 pounds of heroin seized in New York entered the United States from Mexico through El Paso. The information came from a federal law enforcement official with first-hand knowledge of the case.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/mexican-cartels-smuggle-terrorists-into-u-s-through-rural-texas-border-region/feed/0Kuwaiti Officials in U.S. to Help Free Gitmo Captive Denied Release by Obama’s Parole Boardhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/kuwaiti-officials-in-u-s-to-help-free-gitmo-captive-denied-release-by-obamas-parole-board/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/kuwaiti-officials-in-u-s-to-help-free-gitmo-captive-denied-release-by-obamas-parole-board/#commentsTue, 28 Jul 2015 19:35:32 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76498Will the U.S. cave into an Arab nation’s pressure—witnessed firsthand by Judicial Watch—to release a senior Al Qaeda operative and Osama bin Laden advisor who has already been refused discharge by President Obama’s special Guantanamo parole board? The terrorist is a Kuwaiti national named Faez Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari and he’s been a prisoner at the

]]>Will the U.S. cave into an Arab nation’s pressure—witnessed firsthand by Judicial Watch—to release a senior Al Qaeda operative and Osama bin Laden advisor who has already been refused discharge by President Obama’s special Guantanamo parole board?

The terrorist is a Kuwaiti national named Faez Mohammed Ahmed al-Kandari and he’s been a prisoner at the U.S. military compound in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba since 2002. His Department of Defense (DOD) file says he has a history of participating in violent militant Islamic activities, poses a high-risk threat to the United States, has numerous connections to senior Al Qaeda members and was an influential religious figure for Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan. Al-Kandari also provided ideological training at the al-Faruq camp and the Islamic Institute in Kandahar and served as a propagandist who produced and distributed multimedia recruitment material and wrote newspaper articles paying tribute to the 9/11 hijackers.

Last year the special Periodic Review Board (PRB) created by President Obama to empty the military prison at the U.S. Naval base in southeast Cuba, denied al-Kandari’s petition for release. The PRB is comprised of senior officials from the departments of Justice, Defense, Homeland Security and State as well as the Joint Staff and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Their job is to review whether a continued detention of particular individuals held at Gitmo remains necessary to protect against a significant threat to the nation’s security. Dozens of Gitmo captives, including bin Laden’s bodyguard, have been released by the PRB in the last few years in an effort to meet Obama’s goal of closing the facility.

Among them is the only other Kuwaiti still imprisoned there, Fawzi al-Odahm, released by the Obama administration to a laughable jihadist rehabilitation program last year. Al-Odah belonged to a London-based Al Qaeda cell and is an “extremist recruiter and courier,” according to his DOD file. Al-Odah also participated in hostilities against U.S. and Coalition forces and served on an Islamic committee providing inspiration to fighters in Tora Bora. He has a history of participating in jihadist combat and has connections to extremist affiliated non-governmental organizations yet he was let go.

Al-Kandari, on the other hand, was denied freedom last July when the PRB determined that his detention “remains necessary to protect against a continuing significant threat to the security of the United States.” By consensus Obama’s Gitmo parole board concluded that al-Kandari “almost certainly retains an extremist mindset and had close ties with high-level al-Qaeda leaders in the past.” The PRB found that al-Kandari was too susceptible for recruitment due to his connections with extremists and his “residual anger at the U.S.” The board also noted a lack of history regarding the efficacy of Kuwait’s comical terrorist rehab program, officially known as the Al Salam Rehabilitation Center.

Nevertheless, this week the Gitmo PRB granted al-Kandari another parole hearing and Judicial Watch covered the proceeding live via circuit television from a DOD facility in Crystal City, Virginia. High-level sheikhs from Kuwait’s government were present, reportedly to negotiate al-Kandari’s release. They included multiple diplomats, members of the government-run wire service Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), and the Kuwaiti ambassador to the United States, all advocating for al-Kandari’s release. Al-Kandari is the last Kuwaiti prisoner at Gitmo and Middle Eastern news agencies have reported on the Arab nation’s mission to bring him home. In fact, Kuwaiti Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammad Al-Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah recently traveled to Washington to push for al-Kandari’s release and express the Emir of Kuwait’s “utmost concern for this case.”

The push likely helped al-Kandari get a second parole hearing in a year as other captives patiently wait for a turn to appear before the board. A Pentagon official told JW that the PRB should take a few weeks to make a decision in al-Kandari’s case. If the board commits an about-face by releasing this terrorist, it has some serious explaining to do. JW, which has repeatedly traveled to Gitmo to cover the military commission proceedings of the world’s most dangerous terrorists—including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and USS Cole bomber Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri—will continue monitoring this case.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/kuwaiti-officials-in-u-s-to-help-free-gitmo-captive-denied-release-by-obamas-parole-board/feed/0HUD Staffer Fraudulently Charges $12k on Govt. Credit Cardhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/hud-staffer-fraudulently-charges-12k-on-govt-credit-card/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/hud-staffer-fraudulently-charges-12k-on-govt-credit-card/#commentsMon, 27 Jul 2015 19:45:12 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76479During the government shutdown a couple of years ago, an employee at a cabinet-level agency long embroiled in scandal fraudulently charged thousands of dollars in personal items on his work-issued credit card. Enraging as it may seem, it’s not all that surprising considering it involves the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a famously

]]>During the government shutdown a couple of years ago, an employee at a cabinet-level agency long embroiled in scandal fraudulently charged thousands of dollars in personal items on his work-issued credit card.

Enraging as it may seem, it’s not all that surprising considering it involves the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), a famously corrupt agency well known for a multitude of transgressions over the years. In this particular case a HUD staffer racked up nearly $12,000 on his agency credit card by charging personal items such as groceries, lodging, television cable, transportation and even prescription medications.

This occurred in the midst of the 2013 government shutdown caused by Congress’s failure to pass a spending bill. That paralyzed most functions of government, accounting for the second longest shutdown since 1980. The standstill caused a huge economic disruption and billions in lost output, according to a report published by the White House. Although federal employees were eventually compensated for the period of the shutdown, hundreds of thousands did not receive their full paychecks during that time. “The burden of delayed paychecks on federal workers and their families was significant and harmful,” the White House report states.

The HUD employee who went on a spending spree with his government credit card got busted but the agency didn’t bother to take action, according to the federal audit that exposed the scandal this month. The fraudulent purchases—$11,938 in total—were made during a relatively short period from August through October of 2013 so it was difficult for the agency not to notice. By January 2014 the fraud was confirmed but HUD failed to even reprimand the employee or report the wrongdoing. “This occurred because HUD’s existing purchase card policies did not include specific procedures to evaluate violations for purchase card program weaknesses and criteria to report violations,” the inspector general writes.

So, this bloated and notoriously corrupt agency gives its employees credit cards and has no measures to assess violations, which occur regularly throughout government. In this case the HUD staffer charged an astounding $7,357 in groceries, which raises red flags all on its own. He also charged $1,280 in drug stores and pharmacies and $488 on cable television for his home. The rest was spent on commuter transportation, hotels, restaurants and telecommunications equipment, according to the breakdown offered in the audit.

HUD’s scandals have been well documented throughout various administrations—both Republican and Democrat—and Judicial Watch has covered many of them. In fact, earlier this year JW reported that a HUD director who simultaneously ran a leftwing nonprofit changed agency policies to benefit her group. Her name is Debra Gross and for years she headed a crucial HUD policy office while she served as deputy director of a leftist organization called Council of Large Public Housing Authorities (CLPHA) that claims to work to “preserve and improve public and affordable housing through advocacy, research, policy analysis and public education.”

In 2011 a JW investigation found that the Obama administration violated the ban on federal funding for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) by giving the famously corrupt group tens of thousands of dollars in grants to “combat housing and lending discrimination.” The money, $79,819, flowed through HUD and clearly violated a law (Defund ACORN Act) passed by Congress in 2009 to stop the huge flow of taxpayer money that annually went to ACORN after a series of exposés about the leftwing group’s illegal activities.

Problems at the agency go way back. President George W. Bush’s HUD secretary, Alphonso Jackson, was ousted after the feds launched an investigation into his plots to enrich himself and his friends by giving them lucrative government contracts and Bill Clinton’s housing secretary, Henry Cisneros, pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about payments to his former mistress. An influence-peddling scandal under Ronald Reagan led to the conviction of 16 people, including top aides to then HUD Secretary Samuel Pierce.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/hud-staffer-fraudulently-charges-12k-on-govt-credit-card/feed/0After 8 Yrs., $360 Mil Border Drones Fail; DHS Asks Congress for Another $443 Milhttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/after-8-yrs-360-mil-border-drones-fail-dhs-asks-congress-for-another-443-mil/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/after-8-yrs-360-mil-border-drones-fail-dhs-asks-congress-for-another-443-mil/#commentsThu, 23 Jul 2015 16:19:51 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76439Drones used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “guard” the U.S. border for nearly a decade are ineffective even though the agency has blown hundreds of millions of dollars on the failed program and wants Congress to keep funding it. It’s yet another example of what government does best; waste money. In this

]]>Drones used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “guard” the U.S. border for nearly a decade are ineffective even though the agency has blown hundreds of millions of dollars on the failed program and wants Congress to keep funding it.

It’s yet another example of what government does best; waste money. In this case the frontline DHS agency—U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP)—that operates the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAC) is actually requesting more money from Congress to keep the futile drone experiment going. Imagine a private business that for years blew huge sums on a failed enterprise asking investors to pour more cash into the same useless project.

That’s pretty much what DHS is doing and the details are offered in an audit published this month by the agency’s inspector general. The Border Patrol has used drones for around eight years, the audit reveals, at a cost of about $360 million. In fiscal year 2013 alone the agency spent $62.5 million to operate the program, or about $12,255 per hour. It gets better. DHS has lied about the cost of operating the drones, the inspector general writes in its report, by drastically downplaying the real figures. The “calculation of $2,468 per flight hour does not include operating costs, such as the costs of pilots, equipment, and overhead,” the report says. “By not including all operating costs, CBP also cannot accurately assess the program’s cost effectiveness or make informed decisions about program expansion.”

The inspector general goes on to blast the agency for its deceiving accounting practices involving drones. “In addition, unless CBP fully discloses all operating costs, Congress and the public are unaware of all the resources committed to the Unmanned Aircraft System program. As a result, CBP has invested significant funds in a program that has not achieved the expected results, and it cannot demonstrate how much the program has improved border security.” It’s a diplomatic way of saying our Homeland Security officials are embroiled in corrupt acts or, at the very least, misuse of public funds.

When CBP launched its drone program, it anticipated that there would be increased apprehensions of illegal border crossers, a reduction in border surveillance costs and improvement in the agency’s efficiency. The inspector general found that none of this has materialized. In fact, drone surveillance has been credited with assisting in less than 2% of CBP apprehensions of illegal border crossers. “CBP also planned to use unmanned aircraft to operate a radar sensor over the southwest border to increase awareness and analyze surveillance gaps, but sensor operations have been limited,” the report says. “In addition, the unmanned aircraft do not operate along the entire southwest border as has been reported.”

The report breaks down the different costs of associated with the UAVs and compares them to the much lower figures provided by DHS. For instance, during one year analyzed the inspector general found that maintenance costs ran $24,543,564 when DHS had reported only $9,458,567 for the same period. Satellite expenses were pegged at $1,952,000 by DHS when in fact, they were $2,986,077 and operational support was completely free, according to DHS estimates, though the watchdog confirms they were really $5,541,227. In all, the audit found that for that year (2013) Uncle Sam spent $45,399,538 to operate the drones while DHS claims it only cost $12,043,508.

It’s difficult not to conclude that this is a premeditated effort to cover up the exorbitant price of this failed program. This theory makes even more sense when taking into account that DHS, the bloated agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation from another terrorist attack, is asking Congress for an additional $443 million to acquire 14 more drones. “Given the cost of the Unmanned Aircraft System program and its unproven effectiveness, CBP should reconsider its plan to expand the program,” the report logically states. “The $443 million that CBP plans to spend on program expansion could be put to better use by investing in alternatives, such as manned aircraft and ground surveillance assets.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/after-8-yrs-360-mil-border-drones-fail-dhs-asks-congress-for-another-443-mil/feed/0JW Probe Ends Free Labor Union Ads on City Vehicleshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/jw-probe-ends-free-labor-union-ads-on-city-vehicles/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/jw-probe-ends-free-labor-union-ads-on-city-vehicles/#commentsTue, 21 Jul 2015 17:33:46 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76379A major U.S. city will finally stop giving a markedly leftist, politically-oriented national labor union free advertisement on the side of taxpayer-funded vehicles thanks to Judicial Watch. The illegal arrangement has been going on for years in Phoenix, the nation’s sixth-largest city and Arizona’s biggest. Vehicles in the city’s fire department have long sported the

]]>A major U.S. city will finally stop giving a markedly leftist, politically-oriented national labor union free advertisement on the side of taxpayer-funded vehicles thanks to Judicial Watch.

The illegal arrangement has been going on for years in Phoenix, the nation’s sixth-largest city and Arizona’s biggest. Vehicles in the city’s fire department have long sported the logo of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO), the largest conglomerate of unions in the U.S. representing 12.5 million “working people in every walk of life.” The AFL-CIO is notorious for being politically active and spending huge sums to back mainly liberal candidates and issues.

In fact, the AFL-CIO brags about its political activism on its website, writing: “As part of the process, the AFL-CIO Executive Board will take a proactive approach by discussing and potentially identifying a pro-worker presidential candidate and encouraging such a candidate to run for the president in the 2016 election.” This makes the illicit arrangement with the Phoenix Fire Department (PFD) all the more outrageous because it has come at taxpayer expense with no benefit to the city or the public. The AFL-CIO, in turn, has had access to, and benefited from, a long standing advertising practice that’s afforded to no other entity.

When Judicial Watch learned about the shady deal it launched an investigation and fired off a public records request to Phoenix City Manager Ed Zuercher. The inquiry, dated April 1, 2015, included photos of the labor union logo on city fire vehicles and asked for contractual agreements, policies, regulations, ordinances, fee schedules and restrictions related to the display of names or logos of non-governmental entities on PFD service vehicles. JW also asked for records that identify other city service vehicles that are authorized to display names or logos of non-governmental entities and the procedures for them to request or purchase the display of its logos on city service vehicles.

JW never received answers to those questions, but was verbally assured by Phoenix city officials that the AFL-CIO logos would be yanked from PFD vehicles. JW subsequently obtained a memo issued by Phoenix Assistant City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. to Phoenix Fire Chief Kara Kalkbrenner asking that the labor union logos be removed from all department equipment as soon as reasonably possible and no later than within the next 3-4 months. “There is no contractual relationship that legitimizes the display” of the logos on fire vehicles, the assistant city manager tells the fire chief, adding that it “may constitute a violation of Arizona laws.”

It appears that there never was any formal procedure in place to grant the AFL-CIO free ad space on public vehicles in Phoenix. Based on the information JW has gathered, it’s reasonable to conclude that this is an example of a back-room deal between liberal mayors, enamored city council members and the longtime power of the AFL-CIO on the political arena. After all, how is it possible that a city manager, which serves as the crucial chief executive of a municipality’s government, not know what’s on his fire trucks? If JW didn’t investigate this matter, the powerful leftwing labor conglomerate would continue receiving free taxpayer-funded advertisement from the city of Phoenix.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/jw-probe-ends-free-labor-union-ads-on-city-vehicles/feed/0Obama to Protect Illegal Aliens Based on “Accrual of Unlawful Presence” in U.S.http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/obama-to-protect-illegal-aliens-based-on-accrual-of-unlawful-presence-in-u-s/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/obama-to-protect-illegal-aliens-based-on-accrual-of-unlawful-presence-in-u-s/#commentsMon, 20 Jul 2015 17:54:36 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76363Three years after the Obama administration quietly rewarded illegal immigrants with “unlawful presence waivers” it has a new plan in the works to shield them from deportation based on the “accrual of unlawful presence” in the United States. That’s right; illegal aliens with the longest record of violating our laws will be rewarded by our

]]>Three years after the Obama administration quietly rewarded illegal immigrants with “unlawful presence waivers” it has a new plan in the works to shield them from deportation based on the “accrual of unlawful presence” in the United States.

That’s right; illegal aliens with the longest record of violating our laws will be rewarded by our government, according to the proposed plan obtained by Judicial Watch this month from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). It’s all part of the president’s mission to grant amnesty to as many illegal immigrants as possible before he leaves office. This includes special executive programs created to help illegal aliens brought to the U.S. as children and “family reunification” measures that shield relatives and spouses of a broad range of immigrants.

In 2012 Judicial Watch reported on the administration’s behind the scenes effort to halt the deportation of certain illegal immigrants by granting them “unlawful presence waivers.” That measure applies to illegal aliens who are relatives of American citizens. Before the Obama administration changed the rules, aliens had to return to their native country and request a waiver of inadmissibility in an existing overseas immigrant visa process. This often caused U.S. citizens to be separated for extended periods from their foreign—and undocumented—relatives, according to DHS, and the change significantly reduced that.

The latest amnesty measure—based on accrual of unlawful presence—further relaxes the rule and drastically expands the pool of eligible candidates by, among other things, eliminating the requirement that applicants must be relatives of U.S. citizens. Here’s language straight from the government document obtained by JW and signed by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson: “DHS proposes to expand its current provisional waiver process in two principle ways. First, DHS would eliminate current limitations on the provisional waiver process that restrict eligibility to certain immediate relatives of U.S. citizens. Under this proposed rule, the provisional waiver process would be made available to all aliens who are statutorily eligible for waivers of inadmissibility based on unlawful presence and meet certain other conditions.”

DHS also plans to eliminate a requirement that the illegal immigrant demonstrate that denial of the waiver would result in “extreme hardship” to their U.S. citizen spouse or parent. The proposed rule would expand who may be considered a qualifying relative for purposes of the extreme hardship determination to include lawful permanent resident spouses and parents, according to the DHS document obtained by JW. This is all being done in the “interests of family unity,” according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the DHS agency that oversees lawful immigration to the United States.

The agency explains in its new proposal that aliens who are in the Unites States and seeking lawful permanent resident status must either obtain an immigrant visa abroad with the State Department or apply to adjust their immigration status in the United States, if eligible. “Aliens present in the United States without having been inspected and admitted or paroled are typically ineligible to adjust their status in the United States,” the DHS document says, adding that because these aliens entered the country illegally, “their departures may trigger a ground of inadmissibility based on the accrual of unlawful presence in the United States…”

In fact, DHS confirms in its proposed rule that an alien who is unlawfully present in the United States for more than 180 days and less than a year who departs voluntarily before the commencement of removal proceedings is inadmissible for three years from the date of departure. An alien who is unlawfully present in the United States for one year or more and then departs (before, during, or after removal proceedings), is inadmissible for 10 years from the date of the departure. These violators will benefit tremendously under the new program.

Another interesting tidbit is that the administration is actually encouraging aliens to “complete the visa process abroad, promoting family unity, and improving administrative efficiency.”

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/obama-to-protect-illegal-aliens-based-on-accrual-of-unlawful-presence-in-u-s/feed/0CDC Official Calls Obama Worst President, Amateur, Marxist After Influx of Illegal Alien Minorshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/cdc-official-calls-obama-worst-president-amateur-marxist-after-influx-of-illegal-alien-minors/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/cdc-official-calls-obama-worst-president-amateur-marxist-after-influx-of-illegal-alien-minors/#commentsThu, 02 Jul 2015 16:48:24 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76048Following the influx of illegal immigrant minors from Central America, an official at the federal agency charged with protecting public health describes Barack Obama as “the worst pres we have ever had,” an “amateur” and “Marxist,” according to internal emails obtained by Judicial Watch. JW got the records as part of an investigation into the

]]>Following the influx of illegal immigrant minors from Central America, an official at the federal agency charged with protecting public health describes Barack Obama as “the worst pres we have ever had,” an “amateur” and “Marxist,” according to internal emails obtained by Judicial Watch.

JW got the records as part of an investigation into the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) activation of an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) to deal with the barrage of illegal alien minors last summer. Tens of thousands of Central Americans came into the United States through the Mexican border and contagious diseases—many considered to be eradicated in the U.S.—became a tremendous concern. The CDC, which operates under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), responded by opening an emergency facility designed to monitor and coordinate response activities to imminent public health threats.

This special emergency division was created after the 2001 terrorist attacks and has responded to more than 50 public health threats, including hurricanes, food borne disease outbreaks, the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and the Haiti cholera outbreak. Scientists from across the CDC are brought together to analyze, validate, and efficiently exchange information during a public health emergency and connect with response partners. The EOC also coordinates the deployment of CDC staff and the procurement and management of all equipment and supplies that agency responders may need during their deployment.

It’s a major and costly operation that can stick American taxpayers with a huge tab. That’s why JW launched a probe when the Obama administration took in the illegal immigrants, initially coined Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), with open arms last summer. JW has sued the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for planning records involving the border crisis as well as information relating to the solicitation of “on-demand escort services” for the 65,000 UACs that remain in the U.S. Last year JW also reported that the illegal immigrant minors have brought in serious diseases, including swine flu, dengue fever, possibly Ebola virus and tuberculosis.

The CDC records obtained by JW this week include email exchanges between agency officials directly involved in the activation of the EOC to handle the health threats created by the influx of illegal alien minors last summer. In an email dated June 9, 2014, CDC Logistics Management Specialist George Roark wrote to CDC Public Health Advisor William Adams that “no country in the world would allow” the influx. Adams replies that “in ten years or less, they’ll all be voting…Commander’s intent…” Roark fires back by describing Obama as “the worst pres we have ever had…he truly is ‘the amateur’ but a Marxist too.”

CDC Email Evidence

In an unrelated email dated June 18, 2014, CDC Intelligence Analyst Daniel Bubacz describes the situation as a, “Leave No Child on the other Side of the Border Policy.” This refers to a disastrous federal education law known as No Child Left Behind aimed at improving the long suffering academic performance of minorities in the nation’s public schools. More than a decade and tens of billions of dollars later, the measure failed to significantly increase the academic performance of the targeted demographic and is best known as a massive fleecing of taxpayer dollars.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/cdc-official-calls-obama-worst-president-amateur-marxist-after-influx-of-illegal-alien-minors/feed/0IRS Awards Millions in Contracts to Tax-Delinquent Companieshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/irs-awards-millions-in-contracts-to-tax-delinquent-companies/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/irs-awards-millions-in-contracts-to-tax-delinquent-companies/#commentsWed, 01 Jul 2015 16:35:44 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76042Just when you thought the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) couldn’t sink any lower, an embarrassing federal audit exposes the scandal-plagued agency for awarding dozens of tax-delinquent companies with millions of dollars in government contracts. It may seem like a bad joke, that the nation’s feared tax agency does business with companies that cheat it and

]]>Just when you thought the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) couldn’t sink any lower, an embarrassing federal audit exposes the scandal-plagued agency for awarding dozens of tax-delinquent companies with millions of dollars in government contracts.

It may seem like a bad joke, that the nation’s feared tax agency does business with companies that cheat it and violate its mission. At the very least it’s ironic, though the IRS has been embroiled in so many scandals recently that this may seem unworthy of coverage. Judicial Watch still believes it’s worth noting however, that the colossal agency responsible for collecting taxes lets its business pals slide. Whether its incompetence or special treatment, it’s outrageous and unacceptable.

During a two-year period the IRS awarded 57 contracts worth nearly $19 million to 17 corporations that owed federal taxes during that period, according to a report released recently by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). In doing this, the IRS actually violated a 2012 federal law called the Consolidated Appropriations Act prohibiting government agencies from using appropriated funds to enter into a contract with a company that has certain federal tax debt or felony convictions.

It’s bad enough that other government agencies reward tax scofflaws with coveted federal contracts, but in the case of the IRS it’s downright shameful. “When the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) conducts business with contractors that do not pay their Federal taxes, it conveys a conflicting message in relation to its mission to ensure compliance with tax laws,” The TIGTA report states. The IRS watchdog further points out that the Consolidated Appropriations Act requires federal agencies to determine whether a prospective contractor has federal tax debt prior to the award of contract actions. Certainly, the IRS has the ability, not to mention resources, to do this.

Perhaps the IRS has been preoccupied conducting its witch hunt of conservative groups. JW has been a leader in uncovering the sordid details of that major scandal and has obtained damaging government records that show the IRS illegally colluded with another federal agency to crack down on conservative nonprofit groups during the 2012 election cycle. The IRS director at the center of the scheme, Lois Lerner, not only broke agency rules—as well as the law—to target conservative organizations, she also lied to Congress in an effort to cover up the wrongdoing.

JW has also reported extensively on a multitude of other transgressions at the IRS over the years, including the fact that the disgraced agency has long allowed prison inmates to fraudulently received tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds and illegal immigrantsbillions by allowing them to improperly claim tax credits that they don’t qualify for. A few years ago IRS employees were charged with stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in government benefits, including food stamps, welfare and housing vouchers.

As the deadline for Americans to pay their taxes approached earlier this year IRS employees were singled out as the federal workers with the highest number of tax delinquents that received bonus pay. A federal auditrevealed that at the IRS alone, staff members with violations received close to $3 million in awards on top of their regular government salary. Some got the extra cash despite being cited for using drugs, making violent threats, fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits and misusing government credit cards.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/07/irs-awards-millions-in-contracts-to-tax-delinquent-companies/feed/0EPA Warns Climate Action a Must to Avoid Thousands of Deaths, Trillions in Economic Damagehttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/06/epa-warns-climate-action-a-must-to-avoid-thousands-of-deaths-trillions-in-economic-damage/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/06/epa-warns-climate-action-a-must-to-avoid-thousands-of-deaths-trillions-in-economic-damage/#commentsTue, 30 Jun 2015 16:23:15 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=76016The United States must take aggressive “climate action” to avoid tens of thousands of deaths annually and prevent economic damages of up to $5 trillion, according to the Obama administration’s latest—and most alarming—assessment on the ills of global warming. It’s yet another call to action by the administration, which has repeatedly used scare tactics to

]]>The United States must take aggressive “climate action” to avoid tens of thousands of deaths annually and prevent economic damages of up to $5 trillion, according to the Obama administration’s latest—and most alarming—assessment on the ills of global warming.

It’s yet another call to action by the administration, which has repeatedly used scare tactics to gain support for its outrageous and disastrous “green” initiatives. In this case the frightening government warning got delivered in an extensive report published by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The document, compiled by a group of expert environmentalists, is being promoted by the bloated agency as “one of the most comprehensive analyses to date on the economic, health and environmental benefits to the United States of global climate action.”

Like a Hollywood movie, the report compares two future scenarios—one with significant global action on climate change and the other with no action. The government’s handpicked experts quantify the differences in health, infrastructure and ecosystem impacts under the two scenarios and magically predict the future, producing accurate estimates of the costs of inaction and the huge benefits of reducing global emissions. Perhaps they can launch a hotline where the public can call for winning lottery numbers.

“This report shows us how costly inaction will be to Americans’ health, our environment and our society,” Obama’s EPA administrator, Gina McCarthy, says in a statement promoting the outlandish findings. “But more importantly, it helps us understand the magnitude of benefits to a number of sectors of the U.S. with global climate action. We can save tens of thousands of American lives, and hundreds of billions of dollars, annually in the United States by the end of this century, but the sooner we act, the better off America and future generations of Americans will be.”

As an example, the EPA asserts that by 2100 global action on climate change is projected to avoid an estimated 12,000 deaths annually associated with extreme temperatures in 49 U.S. cities, compared to a future with no reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. An astounding 57,000 people will die annually in 2100 “from poor air quality,” the government experts predict, warning that future generations will either benefit from or be burdened by our current actions. “The decisions we make today will have long-term effects,” the experts warn.

Investing in projects that combat global warming will definitely pay off by saving the government trillions of dollars, according to the climate experts that compiled this laughable assessment. As an example they offer this; without climate action they estimate up to $10 billion in increased road maintenance costs each year by the end of the century. “With action, we can avoid up to $7 billion of these damages,” the experts assure. In a future without greenhouse gas reductions, estimated damages from sea-level rise and storm surge to coastal property in the lower 48 states are $5 trillion through 2100, the report says. “With adaptation along the coast, the estimated damages and adaptation costs are reduced to $810 billion,” the global warming gurus proclaim.

Critical as this may seem, it’s hardly the first time the Obama administration injects panic into a government report to make a case for its costly green boondoggles. In the last few years a variety of government-funded studies have warned that global warming will make food and water dangerous, cause mental illness, cancer and threaten national security. In fact, under the Obama administration, a consortium of scientists from several government agencies—including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State Department and National Institute of Environmental Health Science—have confirmed that global warming is one of the “most visible environmental concerns of the 21st century.”

The Obama administration has also spent billions of dollarsto save the developing world from the presumed ills of global warming, mainly through a program called Global Climate Change Initiative. The cash started flowing in 2009 with a generous $323 million allocation that nearly tripled to $939 million in 2010. Every year since, the U.S. has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to the Global Climate Change Initiative as well as other international programs like renewable energy in Africa and a $50 million project to replace inefficient cook stoves that contribute to climate change in developing countries.

]]>http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/06/epa-warns-climate-action-a-must-to-avoid-thousands-of-deaths-trillions-in-economic-damage/feed/0Open-Borders Sociology Prof. Behind New DHS Rule Freeing Illegal Alien Familieshttp://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/06/open-borders-sociology-prof-behind-new-dhs-rule-freeing-illegal-alien-families/
http://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2015/06/open-borders-sociology-prof-behind-new-dhs-rule-freeing-illegal-alien-families/#commentsFri, 26 Jun 2015 16:46:06 +0000http://www.judicialwatch.org/?p=75944A renowned open-borders sociology professor with published research on “victims of deportation policies” is behind the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new regulation ordering the release of illegal immigrant families in U.S. custody. This week DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the outrageous new policy that will let illegal immigrant families go free in the U.S.

]]>A renowned open-borders sociology professor with published research on “victims of deportation policies” is behind the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) new regulation ordering the release of illegal immigrant families in U.S. custody.

This week DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson announced the outrageous new policy that will let illegal immigrant families go free in the U.S. All they have to do is claim a “credible or reasonable fear of persecution in their home countries,” Johnson said. The country’s top homeland security official explained that he decided to create this new measure after conducting numerous visits to family residential centers, including one in Karnes, Texas, where he spoke to the Central American mothers who “came to this country seeking a better life for their children and themselves.”

Based on the detention center visits and chats with illegal immigrants Johnson concluded that the government had to make “substantial changes” in detention practices with respect to families with children. “In short, once a family has established eligibility for asylum or other relief under our laws, long-term detention is an inefficient use of our resources and should be discontinued,” Johnson said. DHS is also ensuring access to lawyers, paid for by American taxpayers, for the detained illegal aliens as well as social workers, educational services and comprehensive medical care.

Of interesting note is that Johnson failed to mention the driving force behind his agency’s new policy. His name is Luis Zayas and he is the dean of Social Work at the University of Texas, Austin. In late May a group of pro-illegal alien members of congress, led by amnesty champion Luis Gutierrez of Illinois, wrote Johnson a letter demanding an end to the use of family detention for illegal immigrants. “It is undeniable that detention in a secure facility is detrimental to mothers and children and is not reflective of our values as a nation,” the letter states. “Children require special protections and should not be placed in jail-like settings.”

To back the claim, the lawmakers cite an affidavit written by Zayas, who asserts that children of undocumented or illegal immigrants are often the unintended victims of deportation policies. The professor has examined the effects of deportation on the psychosocial functioning of U.S.-born children of illegal alien Mexicans, according to his university biography, and often testifies in immigration courts on behalf of children and their families. “Presently, Zayas is focusing on the plight of citizen-children whose parents are being deported,” the public university biography states.

This background information is important because Zayas is the expert cited in the persuading letter Congress fired off to Johnson. Zayas determined that the detained illegal immigrant children are “facing some of the most adverse childhood conditions of any children I have ever interviewed or evaluated.” The professor further concluded that “detention has had serious and long-lasting impacts on the psychological health and well-being” of families at one center and that these impacts were evident in families who were detained for as little as two weeks. Days later the agency created after 9/11 to protect the nation from another terrorist attack, actually caved into this absurd assessment.